「這女人沒瘋」：亞美文學中的女性與瘋狂

"There is no lunacy in this woman": Women and Madness in Asian American Literature

甘濟維(Chi-wei Kan)

指導教授 ： 李秀娟

國立臺灣師範大學/文學院/英語學系/碩士(2012年)

摘要

本論文旨在藉由閱讀數個亞美文學作品裡具代表性之「瘋女人」的故事來發掘亞美背景中女性瘋狂的意義。本論文從《女戰士》中敘述者美辛悖離常軌之無名姑姑開始。即便未曾被診斷為「精神異常」，無名女人的偏差行為——通姦與攜子自殺，使她獲得「瘋女人」之名。無名女人乃亞美文學中知名的角色，也可作為亞美瘋女人的典型。
本論文分為五章。第一章闡明研究動機，並簡短回顧有助了解亞美女性瘋狂的理論與批評。第二章檢視兩位橫越太平洋成為日美移民的女性之瘋狂。山內若子〈媽媽教我的歌〉（1976）中的加藤初惠一時疏忽讓么兒溺斃，造成家裡混亂。我認為初惠極有可能如同許多第一代日本女性移民是照片新娘，而她的瘋狂肇因於無法逃離介乎「需要」與「奢華」兩種生存模式之間。另外，薇林娜‧蓮‧修斯頓的劇本〈茶〉（1983）裡的妃美子‧漢彌頓是一位戰爭新娘，也是聲名狼藉的殺夫兇手，在獨生女遭到謀害後自戕。由劇本中其他戰爭新娘對於妃美子之死的反應看來，我主張妃美子的瘋狂對於其戰爭新娘社群而言是一種轉變的力量。第三章處理兩個二戰期間被囚禁在日美集中營的女人。我認為約翰‧岡田《頑劣小子》(1957)中的山田太太藉著勸阻其子一郎受召入伍來表達對美國政府種族歧視政策的異議。同樣的，山本久枝的〈笹川原小姐傳奇〉(1950)中的主角以其他拘留者眼中瘋狂的行動控訴美國政府的種族歧視與集中營惡劣的生活條件。第四章討論聶華苓的《桑青與桃紅》（1981）。我質疑現存研究中病態化女主角的傾向，並堅持由桑青變為桃紅的過程乃桑青／桃紅用來應對離散情境的蓄意謀劃。我亦比較漢族中心、亞美觀點與女性主義三種對於桑青／桃紅瘋狂的解讀來映證傅柯所言瘋狂是社會、政治、文化建構出來的概念。最後，回到《女戰士》，我總結瘋子也有自己的語言。瘋狂若有適切的表達形式就能產生意義。一如本論文所示，在亞美背景中，女性的瘋狂與移民歷史相關，並在亞美社群的賦能中扮演重要角色。

關鍵字

亞美研究 ； 女性 ； 瘋狂 ； 移民 ； 論述形構

並列摘要

This thesis aims to uncover the significance of female madness in Asian American contexts through the reading of a few representative “madwomen” in literary texts. I open my thesis with musings on the young Maxine’s deviant no name aunt in The Woman Warrior (1976). Albeit not medically diagnosed as “insane,” with her aberrant behavior—committing adultery and killing herself together with her newborn illegitimate child, she earns the name of a madwoman. A well-known figure in Asian American literature, the no name woman serves as a model for my study of Asian American female madness.
This thesis is divided into five chapters. Chapter One elaborates the motivation of my study as well as offers a brief review of the theories and criticisms that may shed light on the understanding of Asian American female madness. In Chapter Two I examine the madness of two Japanese women who journey across the Pacific Ocean and become American wives. Hatsue Kato in Wakako Yamauchi’s “Songs My Mother Taught Me” (1976) carelessly lets her youngest child drown and wreaks havoc in her family. I argue that Hatsue is very likely a picture bride as many Issei women are, and that she develops her madness from her inescapable position in between two modes of existence—Necessity and Extravagance. On the other hand, Himiko Hamilton in Velina Hasu Houston’s “Tea” (1983) is a war bride who infamously murders her husband and commits suicide after her only daughter is killed. Judging from the other war brides’ reaction to Himiko’s death, I consider Himiko’s madness to be a transformative force for her war bride community. Chapter Three deals with two women who have been interned in the Japanese American relocation camps during WWII. I contend that Mrs. Yamada in John Okada’s No-No Boy (1957) expresses dissent toward the U.S. government’s racist policy via dissuading her son Ichiro from being drafted. Similarly, I believe that the title character of Hisaye Yamamoto’s “The Legend of Miss Sasagawara” (1950) complains about both the U.S. government’s racism and the harsh living conditions of the internment camps with what her fellow internees deem mad acts. Chapter Four centers upon Hua-ling Nieh’s Mulberry and Peach (1981). I question existing studies’ tendency to pathologize the heroine and assert that the metamorphosis of Mulberry into Peach is the deliberate design of Mulberry/Peach’s to tackle her diasporic situation. Also, I compare Sinocentric, Asian American and feminist readings of Mulberry/Peach’s madness to illustrate Foucault’s idea that madness is a sociopolitical and cultural construct. Finally, by returning to The Woman Warrior, I conclude that the insane have their own language. When given an appropriate form of expression, madness yields meaning. In Asian American contexts particularly, as this thesis shows, female madness pertains to immigration histories and plays a crucial role in the empowerment of the Asian American community.

並列關鍵字

Asian American studies ； women ； madness ； immigration ； discursive formation

參考文獻

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Chiu, Monica. “Japanese American Internment, National Pathology, and Intra-racial Strife in Hisaye Yamamoto’s ‘The Legend of Miss Sasagawara.’” Notes on Contemporary Literature 39.2 (2009): 8-10. Print.

Cixous, Hélène. “The Laugh of the Medusa.” Feminisms: An Anthology of Literary Theory and Criticism. Ed. Robyn R. Warhol and Diane Price Herndl. New Brunswick: Rutgers UP, 1997. 334-349. Print.

---, and Catherine Clément. The Newly Born Woman. Trans. Betsy Wing. Minneapolis: U of Minnesota P, 1986. Print.